You might have visited the bustling tourist hotspot of Puerto Vallarta before, or perhaps you’re heading there for the first time soon and you want to know more about the area; in any case we’re certain you won’t know some of these interesting facts about Puerto Vallarta!
Read on to find out just how well you know Puerto Vallarta:
Los Muertos Beach
Locals of Puerto Vallarta claims that Playa Los Muertos (translation: beach of the dead) has a very interesting, and gruesome, history! They say that in centuries gone by pirates raided the area, or planned to do so, by landing on this beach and met fierce resistance from the locals! The resistance was so fearsome, in fact, that many pirates died on the beach, and so the name was born. Ask around the bars and we’re sure someone will be happy to tell you how skeletons were unearthed when the first hotels were built here. Don’t let the name put you off, though; this beach is one of the most wonderful in the city!
Banderas Bay
Banderas Bay’s depths are almost literally fathomless; at over 900 meters deep it is one of the deepest bays in the world, and at 42 kilometers across it is also one of the ten widest! All in all this makes it the single biggest bay in Mexico as well as being one of the most famous! The name comes from the Spanish word for flags, and it is said that it comes from the moment when, upon landing at the bay, Spanish conquistadores say 20,000 locals holding feathered flags and bows and arrows on the shore ready to defend their homes!
Las Peñas
Puerto Vallarta only came to be known by that name in the 1900s when it was renamed to honor a state governor called Ignacio Vallarta! In the 1800’s it was actually called Las Peñas!
Source of Income
Before tourism became the single biggest source of income for the city Puerto Vallarta was not nearly as wealthy; before the tourist trade really kicked off Puerto Vallarta specialised in fishing and the export of corn, beans, bananas, and coconuts to the USA!
The Movie Industry
The Movie industry has contributed more than its fair share to the booming, 9 billion peso economy of Puerto Vallarta… in fact, it helped to make the city what it is today! The romance of Burton and Taylor, and the hit film The Night of The Iguana put this sleepy fishing village on the map. As a result many big name productions have been made here over the years, including Herbie Goes Bananas (1980), Predator (1987), and Limitless (2011). Bradley Cooper, Robert DeNiro, and Arnold Schwarzenegger have all visited these shores for business, but we have no doubt that it was a pleasure!
Population
The population of Puerto Vallarta has experience exponential growth in the past century or so; in 1880 the approximate population was 1500, and since then it has increased more than tenfold (more than thirty fold to be fair!)! In the last 20 years the population of the city has grown an average of 7.5% per annum, and today there are over 300, 000 inhabitants.
Mariachi Music
The state of Jalisco, in which you will find Puerto Vallarta, is the epicentre of Mariachi, and Puerto Vallarta participates in the tradition with aplomb! There are many talent mariachi bands in the city as well as a children mariachi band!
